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Hunter × Hunter
Hunter × Hunter (ハンター×ハンター, Hantā Hantā), pronounced "Hunter Hunter", is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The story focuses on a young boy named Gon, who discovers that his father, whom he was told was dead, is actually alive and well. He learns that his father, Ging, is a legendary Hunter, an individual who has proven themselves an elite member of humanity and who specializes in finding rare creatures, secret treasures, and other individuals. Despite Ging having left his son with his relatives in order to pursue his own dreams, Gon becomes determined to follow in his father's footsteps, pass the rigorous Hunter Examination, and eventually find his father to become a Hunter in his own right. The original inspiration for the manga came from Togashi's own collecting hobby. Hunter × Hunter began its manga serialization on March 3, 1998 in the Shueisha magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump. As of November 2018, its 390 chapters have been published in 36 tankōbon (chapter collections) in Japan. However, the manga has frequently gone on hiatus since 2006. Hunter × Hunter was translated into English and released in North America by Viz Media beginning in April 2005. In 1999, the manga series was adapted into a 62-episode anime series produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi. The anime premiered on Japan's Fuji TV and Animax. Three separate original video animations (OVAs) totaling 30 episodes were subsequently produced by Nippon Animation and released in Japan from 2002 to 2004. The television series has been licensed and released in North America by Viz, and it aired on the Funimation Channel starting in 2009. A second anime television series by Madhouse began airing on Nippon Television in October 2011. It ended in 2014, having a combined total of 148 episodes. There are also numerous audio albums, video games, musicals, and other media based on Hunter × Hunter. The Hunter × Hunter manga has been a financial success in Japan, having sold over 72 million copies there as of May 2018. Popularity and viewer recognition of the anime series have proven much more modest. Critics of both the manga and its television adaptation have praised it as having a complex plot, endearing characters, and superb art and animation. However, reviewers disagreed on the quality of the anime's music and sound. Plot Twelve years prior to the start of the story, Ging Freecss left his infant son, Gon Freecss, with Gon's aunt, Mito Freecss, on Whale Island. Gon, who was told all his life that both his parents were dead, finds out from Ging's apprentice, Kite, that his father is still alive and has since become an accomplished Hunter. Hunters are licensed, elite members of humanity who are capable of tracking down secret treasures, rare beasts, or even other individuals. Gon leaves his home to become a Hunter like his father by taking the Hunter Exam, a series of brutal tests involving skill, survival, and teamwork. Prior to and during the exam, Gon meets and befriends three of the other applicants: the last remaining member of the Kurta clan, Kurapika, who wishes to become a Hunter in order to avenge his slain people; Leorio Paladinight, a prospective physician who claims to desire to become rich; and Killua Zoldyck, who had left his life as a member of a notorious assassin family. Among many other examinees, Gon continuously encounters Hisoka, a deadly, sadistic magician. After the exam and a brief excursion to Killua's home estate, the four protagonists split up, promising to meet up in Yorknew City months later. Kurapika departs to find work and Leorio leaves to attend medical school. Gon and Killua decide to gain both combat experience and money at the Heavens Arena, a skyscraper where thousands of martial artists compete daily in fighting tournaments. There they meet a kung fu (original Japanese version is Kenpō) master named Wing, who trains them in utilizing Nen, a chi-like life energy that can be used to manifest superhuman powers. The next story arc reunites the main characters for the world's largest auction in the sprawling metropolis of Yorknew City. Gon, Killua, and Leorio try different methods to make enough money to buy Greed Island, an extremely rare and expensive video game with Nen-like properties that may help Gon locate his father. Meanwhile, Kurapika, having mastered a form of Nen himself, takes a job as bodyguard for a rich client who is attempting to obtain a pair of Kurta eyes. While at the auction, Kurapika crosses paths with the Phantom Troupe, the group responsible for the slaughtering of his clan and who are attempting to steal valuable artifacts throughout the city's many auctions. With the help of his comrades Kurapika neutralizes the Nen of Chrollo Lucilfer, leader of the Phantom Troupe, halting the group's activity in Yorknew City. Finally, Gon and Killua find Greed Island, the seemingly-magical video game that sucks players within. The goal of the game is to collect a number of set cards, although almost everything in the game, from food to money, can be turned into cards. Inside Greed Island Gon and Killua are joined by an experienced teacher of Nen, Biscuit Krueger, who trains them. With help, Gon and Killua clear the game. As part of their reward, they are allowed to take three cards to be used outside the game. Using one of the cards, Gon and Killua travel to the location of a player with the username "Nigg", who they believe to be Ging. However, it ends up bringing them to Kite instead. Alongside Kite, Gon and Killua briefly work as biological researchers in the country of Kakin. As they investigate a giant insect limb found on the country's shores, the group discover it came from a man-sized Chimera Ant queen, an insect that devours other creatures and then gives birth to progeny that inherit the characteristics of the different species it has eaten. The queen washes up onto an island nation called the Neo-Green Life (N.G.L.) Autonomous Region, inhabited by a neo-luddite culture. She quickly develops a taste for humans and builds a colony in order to conceive both an army of offspring and a Chimera Ant king named Meruem. The Chimera Ants proceed to wipe most of the population out before Gon, Killua, and Kite arrive. The queen dies during labor, and the king and his Royal Guards flee the N.G.L., secretly overthrowing the government of the nearby Republic of East Gorteau soon thereafter. Under the guise of the former king of The Republic of East Gorteau, Meruem initiates the process of forcibly awakening Nen in the civilians of East Gorteau in order to select soldiers to join his own personal army to conquer the world, and convert the remaining inhabitants to food-stock. As Ants formerly under the queen's rule rejoin the king, the Hunter Association mobilizes quickly to stop the oncoming genocide by sending in an extermination team of Hunters to East Gorteau. Distraught over the murder of Kite at the hands of the Royal Guards, Gon and Killua join the extermination team in order to take revenge for their friend. The confront reaches the climax during a battle between the king himself and Netero, the chairman of the hunter association, who sacrifices himself to defeat Meruem by detonating a weapon of mass destruction implanted into his body. The king manages to survive, but due to the powerful poison liberated by the weapon, he dies days later. Gon also manages to enact revenge for Kite's death, but is severely wounded and lies unconscious under intensive care. With the matter of the Chimera Ants solved, the Hunter Association now focus on the process of choosing Netero's substitute as chairman, while the other Hunters try to have a new chairman elected by a voting system proposed by Gon's father Ging, Killua returns home to bring his brother/ sister Alluka in order to save Gon's life. At the end of Hunter Association story arc Gon has recovered and the new chairman becomes Cheadle Yorkshire. A new adventure is hinted as Beyond Netero, self-claimed son of former chairman has gathered a group of followers to explore the dark continent. Cheadle, however, announces that the Hunter Association's new task is to hunt Beyond, which is one of the last words from the late chairman. Characters *Gon Freecss *Killua Zoldyck *Kurapika *Leorio Paradinight *Hisoka Morow *Biscuit Krueger *Kite *Isaac Netero *Ging Freecss *Chrollo Lucilfer *Feitan Portor *Machi Komacine *Phinks Magcub *Meruem *Neferpitou *Shaiapouf *Menthuthuyoupi *Pariston Hill *Cheadle Yorkshire *Botobai Gigante *Mizaistom Nana *Nasubi Hui Guo Rou *Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou *Benjamin Hui Guo Rou *Woble Hui Guo Rou *Oito Hui Guo Rou Gallery :For Images, go to the Hunter x Hunter Image Gallery. References Gallery Category:Series Category:Weekly Shonen Jump Series